About Education + Apprentices

The Fabric Workshop and Museum offers many opportunities for students, teachers, and families to have a more exciting and educational experience during their visit. See more information about our many programs and tour offerings in the pages below.

High School Apprentice Training Program

The High School Apprentice Training Program (HSATP) is an after-school art program for students interested in developing new tools for artistic expression and self-empowerment in a professional museum and studio environment. During fall and spring twelve-week sessions, apprentices have the unique opportunity to design their own hand-screen-printed textiles with an emphasis on building entrepreneurial and collaborative skills. The summer eight-week session offers an opportunity for apprentices to gain a deeper understanding of museum operations, including receiving training in public speaking, giving tours, and visiting local art institutions.

HSATP offers exceptional art education for teenagers from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds, with the specific goal of providing participants with opportunities unavailable in their schools. FWM's objective is to complement school resources and improve art education for high school students in the Philadelphia region.

The application process includes an interview with the Museum Education Manager, to which each student must bring at least five samples of their artwork, such as: drawings, a portfolio, or journal of recent artworks. To apply, please complete an online application form and email to: highschoolapprentice@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org.

College and Post-Graduate Apprentice Training Program

The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) invites students and post-graduates from the U.S. and abroad to apply to the College and Post-Graduate Apprentice Training Program (ATP). The ATP is a holistic experience enabling artists to develop skills in silkscreen printing and working with fabric to enhance their studio practice. Apprentices will also participate in the daily operations of the FWM studio and museum to support FWM and its mission of stimulating experimentation and collaboration among leading contemporary artists and sharing the process of creating works of art with the public.

Apprentices have the opportunity to learn many skills, including how to create a design by hand on mylar, mix colors with fabric pigment, use screen printing techniques, register multiple screens, and print their own one-color and three-color repeat yardages with the support of FWM master printers. Additionally, apprentices assist with projects in the artist studio, print production, visitor services, education, and archives. Apprentices present a short lecture on their own work, visit area cultural organizations, and work with visiting artists-in-residence.

This program is specifically designed for artists who have a solid studio practice and are interested in benefiting from the unique ethos of a museum with active artists-in-residence and a collaborative atmosphere focused on developing craftsmanship and conceptualism. As opposed to a technical program designed for careers in the textile industry, the ATP is focused on enabling artists to develop skills in screenprinting and find ways of integrating fabric into their artmaking.FWM actively recruits a diverse pool of candidates working within a wide range of media, with a special emphasis on international students. Recent apprentices have come to FWM from nearly every state in the U.S., as well as from Japan, Ghana, South Korea, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Kenya, Great Britain, France, India, and China.

The time commitment is two days a week during Museum hours, Wednesday–Friday 10:00 am–6:00 pm.

Do you have housing for nonlocal apprentices?

Apprentices must find their own accommodations.

How many apprentices are in the program at a time?

There are 4–6 artists during each session of the program.

If I am not a recent art school graduate, am I still eligible for the program?

You can apply even if you’ve been out of school for some time, as long as you are still actively pursuing your career as an artist and can show recent work.

Do I need to have a college education in order to apply?

You do not need to have a college education as long as you have a strong portfolio.

If I am a commercial designer, would I be a good fit?

Because FWM’s mission supports contemporary art and artists, the applicants that we select are commonly focused on applying screen­printing and textiles to their own studio practice while gaining professional museum experience. The hand screen­printing process that FWM teaches isn’t necessarily applicable to commercial design work today.

How long will it be before I hear back about my application?

Typically, we are able to follow up with applicants regarding their status about 3­–4 weeks after the application deadline.

Study Tours and Hands-on Workshops

The Fabric Workshop and Museum’s unique Study Tours and Hands-on Workshops lead participants through our current exhibitions and professional studios. These programs are offered to pre-school and school-age (elementary, middle, high and home school) participants, as well as college and adult groups. See below for descriptions, pricing, and details. Qualified schools are invited to inquire about Bus Grants and discounted admissions. A limited number of grants are available to assist schools on a first-come, first-served basis.

Once the date and time of your visit are confirmed, we will send you a confirmation email with an invoice, check-in information, and other details about your tour.

Tour Etiquette

Before your visit, learn about The Fabric Workshop and Museum’s history, Artists-in-Residence Program, and current exhibitions. Engage your group in a conversation about contemporary art museums and museum etiquette. If your group is running late, please contact us as soon as possible. Tours will be cancelled if your group is not present within and the first 15 minutes of your scheduled time and we have not received notice. All tours will be cancelled if arrival is delayed by more than 30 minutes.

Tour experiences to choose from:

Pre-school and School-Age Programs

Exhibition Inspired Hands on Workshops

This experience is geared towards younger children with activities that engage the minds and bodies of young artists. Participants begin with a tour of the exhibition with drawing, sculpture, and movement exercises in the galleries. Then we head to our studio for a hands-on workshop that connects to the process, materials, or concepts expressed in the artist's work. Engaging, hands on workshops are developed for each new exhibition. All materials are included. Inquire about the current offerings.

Cost: $10 per participant.

Make Your Mark!

Learn the fundamentals of silkscreen printing on fabric in just a few easy steps. Use our "printing station" to print a T-shirt or to make a fun swatch using designs made by artists at FWM. Bring a pre-washed 100% cotton T-shirt, bag, or fabric swatch for this workshop. Tote bags, custom screens, and other add-ons can be provided at an additional cost. All ages enjoy this workshop!

Cost: $10 per participant.

Sketch and Reflect

How does art inspire us? Visit FWM’s exhibitions and translate close observations into drawings and poems. FWM provides all drawing materials. This tour has a maximum of 15 students.

Cost: $5 per participant.

High School, College, and Adult Programs

What's Going on in the Studio?

Find out how artists collaborate with the FWM staff to create unique works for the museum's permanent collection and beyond. Our museum educators will lead you on a tour of the galleries and the studio. This tour focuses on how an artist’s ideas develop and change during the process of creation and experimentation with new materials.

Cost: $5 per participant.

Open Concept Project

This experience offers an inside look at the process for imagining, shaping and executing an exhibition start to finish. Participants view floorplans, scale models of the galleries created by our studio staff, and (when FWM is between shows) vacant exhibition spaces, allowing them to gain insight into the curatorial mind. They will also have the opportunity to explore an Artist Box, containing process materials (research, handwritten notes, samples, sketches and prototypes) left behind by FWM’s Artists-in-Residence, and actively engage in the process of designing an exhibition.

Cost: $10 per participant.

Conversations on Contemporary Art

How do different artists deepen our understanding of the world around us? How do they collaborate with FWM to design and create works using cutting edge technology and traditional techniques? See works-in-progress by resident artists in the studio, watch a film documenting FWM’s prior artist projects, and talk with FWM's staff and Project Coordinators, who collaborate with Artists-in-Residence. You can also learn how to conduct research on a particular artist and gain information about various careers in the arts.

Cost: $5 per participant.

Custom Tours

Would you like to organize a one or two-session workshop, collaboratively design and print repeat yardage, or schedule a special presentation of past artist-in-residence projects? Please contact Katie Parry, Museum Tour Coordinator at kparry@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org for more details and a price quote. These types of requests have limited availability and we recommend booking three months in advance.

K-12 On-site Studio Programs

The On-site Studio program extends art-making activities that take place through the Apprentice Training Programs and its Artist-in-Residence program to the school environment. A FWM-trained teaching artist works with a class of school students (K-12) and their teacher, meeting once each week over a period of six weeks, to facilitate a collectively designed hand screen-printed fabric. Two of these meetings will take place at FWM, the first focusing on screen-printed repeat design and exploring FWM's current exhibition and the final visit to print the students' collaborative design with assistance from the teaching artist. The finished project will be a 15-yard hand screen-print that derives from the schools' curricula and is designed by students. When possible, FWM provides bus grants to defray the cost of schools' transportation to the Museum. Please email tours@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org for more information.

Plant to Portrait: Selfie Portraiture in the 21st Century. The outcome of this ten-week project from October 3 to December 19, 2014 is a large-scale, hand screen-printed and dyed textile with a photo documentation of the seventh grade class at Southwark School. Please click here for the press release.

Teacher Programs

Online Curriculum

The Online Curriculum provides teachers with visual and written materials to support the use of FWM's unique exhibitions and collections in the classroom. These lessons can be used to develop concepts and themes related to specific classroom curriculum or to contemporary art in general.

Using the Online Curriculum can help teachers prepare students for a museum visit by providing information about the themes and ideas within FWM's permanent collection, and assist educators in developing classroom lessons focusing on contemporary art. Designed primarily for K-12 grade educators and students, it is organized into Four Themes that are age-appropriate.

Evenings for Educators

Evenings for Educators are offered each Fall and Spring semester and are designed to stimulate educators' interactions with FWM and with their peers. Teachers and arts professionals can step outside of the classroom to explore how contemporary art, and FWM programs in particular, can enliven classroom discussions and activities. Evenings for Educators will demonstrate ways for educators and their students to become involved in FWM's school-museum collaborations including Study Tours, the Apprentice Training Program and internships. Educators can learn the basics of silkscreen printing or other printmaking techniques and have a tour of the exhibitions on view in this informative session.

Family Programs

FWM Family Programs are designed for families to explore and learn about contemporary art in new and exciting ways. Using FWM's exhibitions and unique studio environment as a foundation for learning, Family Programs feature hands-on activities designed to spark interest, arouse curiosity, and encourage children and adults to learn about art and culture together. Workshops allow families time and space to share in the creative process and expression inside and outside the Museum walls. Please email tours@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org for more information.

Saturday, April 30, 2016 from 1:00 to 4:00 pmFree and open to the publicRecommended ages: 3-12 yearsRSVP required for drop-in sessionsTo make reservations, click here

Event DescriptionChildren and parents can explore the connection between movement and drawing in Drag, Drop, and Roll!, afamily program organized by The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM). This interactive “body drawing” event is inspired by Ally, FWM’s current exhibition of art and dance by Janine Antoni, Anna Halprin, and Stephen Petronio.When families enter the event spacefor Drag, Drop, and Roll!,they will find our print studio covered in paper, which will serve as the large-scale surface for participants to make their mark. Garments—such as aprons, hats, gloves, and shoes—covered in cast chalk will be available for all to wear. Wall projections of Antoni’s performances, as well as past FWM Artists-in-Residence—William Anastasi, Daniel Arsham X Jonah Bokaer, Trisha Brown—will serve as visual examples of the ways artists use mark-making as a record of bodily movement. After Drag, Drop, and Roll!, FWM will produce our own record: a time-lapse video that documents the drawing progress.

Kids and grown-ups will take inspiration from performance artist Cynthia Hopkins’ “quilts” in her exhibition Memorabilia (on view through January 3, 2016) that memorializes several of the artist’s large-scale, music theater performances.

Hopkins worked in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) to stitch together remnants from her former performances to preserve their memories in collaged quilts. After touring the exhibition, kids will screen print images onto their pillow cases and embroider details onto the surface. Participants will discuss their memories and images or symbols that may have personal meaning.

FWM Family programs are designed for kids ages 5 to 12, and led by FWM educators.

Cost for the workshop is $5.00 per family, paid upon entrance to the museum.

Participants can bring in a pillowcase from home or purchase one for an additional $5.00 at FWM.

Cotton fabric swatches will also be available without additional charge.

Saturday, November 7, 2015 from 1:00–3:00 pm

Let us know you are coming! Please reserve your space by calling 215.561.8888, or RSVP directly through Eventbrite by clicking here, thank you.

FWM Family Jam: See, Sew, Sculpt!Please join us for a FWM family workshop celebrating over five decades of work by American artist Richard Tuttle.Kids ages 5 to 10 and their caregivers will tour the exhibition Both/And Richard Tuttle Print and Cloth to experience Tuttle’s textiles, sculptures, and prints.Families will also screenprint and embroider their own tote bags, and make freestanding sculptures.Ages: 5–10Free and Open to the PublicFWM Family JamSaturday, July 11, 2015 from 1:00pm–4:00pmSpace is limited for this workshop. Please RSVP by clicking here, thank you.

By the Work of Her Hands Public Moroccan Embroidery Workshop, Thursday, June 4th, 2015 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.This workshop is part of By The Work of Her Hands, an exhibition of embroidered and quilted textiles that demonstrate stories of a unique cultural exchange between the Quilters of Color Network of New York and the embroidery artists of Au Grain de Sésame (Rabat, Morocco) created through a museum partnership with Tangier American Legation Museum.Ages: 14 +Free and Open to the PublicPublic Moroccan Embroidery WorkshopThursday, June 4, 2015 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pmSpace is limited for this workshop. Please RSVP by clicking here, thank you.

Shaker Inspired Craft Workshop Series, March 20151222 Arch StreetFree and Open to the PublicIn conjunction with collaborative exhibition A Hatchet to Kill Old Ugly by Philadelphia artists Joy Feasley and Paul Swenbeck three craft events will take place within their exhibition space and guided by Joy Feasley, Kelly Cobb, and Suzanne Maruska. For additional information or questions about this series of events, please contact Christina Roberts at christina@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org

Create the Spring Equinox with Crafty Bouquets!This event is part of the Shaker Inspired Craft Workshop Series at 1222 Arch Street.Saturday, March 7 drop in sessions between 12:00 pm to 5:00 pmSunday, March 8 drop in sessions between 12:00 pm to 5:00 pmInstructor: Joy FeasleyAll ages welcomeFree and Open to the PublicPhiladelphia based artist Joy Feasley will lead informal craft workshops incorporating simple, fun flower-making techniques resulting in creative craft bouquets. The workshop sessions will take place within her exhibition A Hatchet to Kill Old Ugly and all materials will be provided during these drop-in sessions. All ages are welcome to attend on the weekend of March 7th and 8th from noon to 5:00 pm during the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show.

Betwixt and Between! Make Your Own LoomThis event is part of the Shaker Inspired Craft Workshop Series at 1222 Arch Street.Saturday, March 14 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pmInstructor: Kelly CobbAges: 8+Free and Open to the PublicBetwixt and Between! Make Your Own Loom is a hands-on workshop that weaves together material, technique and storytelling for participants ages 8 to 18. Young visitors will have the opportunity to create one-of-a-kind, unique tapestries from textile materials and everyday objects. This workshop adopts shaker weaving as a point of entry into the narrative potential of textile craft. Learning about this process allows visitors to develop skills of color mixing, planning, and constructing a loom. Additionally, participants can create a “social textile” through making, sharing, and learning together.

Fabulous Felt! Make a Needle-Felted MushroomThis event is part of the Shaker Inspired Craft Workshop Series at 1222 Arch Street.FWM is pleased to announce that this craft event has been rescheduled for:Saturday, March 21 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pmInstructor: Suzanne MaruskaAges: 12+Free and Open to the PublicTeens ages 12 to 18 will learn to use wool as a sculptural material in this playful, hands-on workshop. They will experience the transformative qualities of natural materials and the traditional craft of needle felting, taking inspiration from Shaker crafts. The Shakers are famous for their handmade crafts that were both functional and elegantly designed. Participants will sculpt wool without using any soap or water, as in traditional wet felting techniques. This project complements The Fabric Workshop and Museum exhibition A Hatchet to Kill Old Ugly, featuring artists Joy Feasley and Paul Swenbeck. In their exhibition, Feasley and Swenbeck took ideas from Shaker spirit drawings and magic to design a sculptural installation that includes sculpted figurines, a handmade braided rug, and Shaker woolen cloak. Teens will experiment with traditional textile methods that allow them to experience traditional aspects of American history and a new expressive process. Textile artist Suzanne Maruska will lead participants through this inventive hands-on workshop.

Family Program Event:Rock! Paper! Scissors!Saturday, February 8, 2014 from 1:00 pm - 4:00 pmFree to the PublicTo register please click here.For additional information or questions about this event, please contact Christina Roberts at christina@fabricworkshopandmuseum.orgWe're celebrating Sarah Sze's exhibition at The Fabric Workshop and Museum! Kids and adults will have the opportunity to explore Sarah Sze’s fantastical site-specific works. Taking inspiration from Sze’s work, families will work together to make clay objects, print silkscreen images to redesign a newspaper, and try their hand at weaving. FWM Family Programs are designed for children ages 4-12 years of age and their families to learn and enjoy hands-on contemporary art and museum experiences."...Sze creates exuberant installations that provide the viewer with a sense of wonder, visual pleasure, and a novel way to look at familiar space." -- MacArthur Foundation ("Meet the 2003 MacArthur Fellows," October 5, 2003)FWM showcases new work by Artist-in-Residence Sarah Sze in her first solo exhibition in the Philadelphia area. Sze’s immense and intricate site-specific works are akin to drawings in space, manipulating architectural space to profoundly affect the way it is viewed. Sze represented the United States in the 2013 Venice Biennale.Funding for this exhibition is provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, National Endowment for the Arts, and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and the Board of Directors and Members of The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM).